Microsoft's next flagship rumoured to be Lumia 950, Lumia 950XL: Smartphones could sport front-facing LED flash

Microsoft is rumoured to be launching Lumia 950/Lumia 950XL smartphones which could feature front-facing LED flashReuters

Technology giant Microsoft, which earlier confirmed that it would launch premier exclusively-branded Lumia smartphones, could now skip a generation of mid-range devices to release a new batch of flagship handsets.

According to a report published in Weibo and spotted by PhoneArena, Microsoft's next flagship devices will be the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, both of which are reportedly being launched after skipping the highly expected Lumia 940/Lumia 940 XL.

Currently, Microsoft has the Lumia 930, considered as an above-average mid-range smartphone, in the market. This device is rumoured to be the last Lumia 9X mid-range handset as more flagships have been confirmed for the near future by the Redmond-based company.

A recent survey by comScore revealed that Microsoft's Windows Phone lost 0.5% of the market share with respect to user base and its total share of the pie stood at 3.0% as of May 2015.

Even Microsoft's first exclusively branded Windows Phone, the Lumia 535, touted before its release as the device to look out for to boost Windows Phone usage, has failed to attract users in the US – especially Nokia old-timers who have migrated to rival mobile OSes.

Google's Android still dominated the market in the US, with a whopping 52.1% share despite a 0.7% drop as of May 2015.